Cloud, security stocks surge after global IT outage

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s cloud and information security-related stocks rallied in early trading on Monday in the aftermath of the “global IT outage” that erupted last Friday, disrupting businesses worldwide.

MONITORAPP Inc. shares traded at 5,500 won ($3.96) on the secondary Kosdaq market at 9:22 a.m. on Monday, up 18.82 percent from the previous trading day.

SGA Solutions Co. (17.22 percent), RaonSecure Co. (8.20 percent), and Ksign Co. (8.08 percent) also saw a rise in their stock prices.

The IT outage on July 19th, 2024, was caused by a security program distributed by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., which clashed with MS Windows. This resulted in the “Blue Screen of Death,” a phenomenon in which the computer screen suddenly turns blue, appearing on 8.5 million devices using Windows, causing them to malfunction and affecting various sectors including aviation, healthcare, and finance.

Market insiders noted that the anticipation that countries and companies will inspect their cloud systems and security measures due to the global outage drove investment into these sectors.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency-related stocks, also known as “Trump beneficiary stocks,” continued to gain strength in early Monday trading, despite the news that incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden suddenly withdrew as the Democratic presidential candidate.

Blockchain company GalaxiaMoneytree Co., saw its shares trade at 9,640 won as of 9:26 a.m., up 1,300 won, or 15.59 percent from the previous trading day.

Woori Technology Investment Co., which holds a stake in Dunamu Inc., which operates Korea‘s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, saw its shares trading at 8,920 won, up 480 won, or 5.68 percent, from the previous session. Other virtual currency-related stocks, including Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. (3.24 percent), which also holds a stake in Dunamu, SGA Solutions (15.38 percent), T Scientific Co. (2.72 percent), Wizit Co. (2.95 percent), and Danal Co. (1.05 percent), also saw a rise in their stock prices.

These stocks began to rise after the shooting incident involving Donald Trump on July 14th, 2024, which increased his chances of winning the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November. The former president has repeatedly stated that he favors cryptocurrencies, and even saying he would be a “crypto president.”